North Branch Park River Project Advisory Committee Meeting #4

March 22, 2024 North Central Conservation District

North Branch Park River Green Infrastructure Design & Watershed Plan Update

Project Advisory Committee Meeting #4

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10:00 – 11:00 AM

Project Schedule

Consultant Team Update

Task 3 – Green Infrastructure Design Development

Project Selection and Concept Phases

1. Data Gathering & Review

• Compile GIS mapping

• Inventory public and institutional properties

• Identify existing GI

• Identify planned capital improvements

2. Project Screening & Selection

• Desktop screening

• Property owner interviews

• Field inventories (20 to 40 sites)

• Green infrastructure concepts (up to 15)

• Technical Memo

3. Preliminary Design

• 5 projects

• Field survey

• Test pits & infiltration testing

• Wetland delineation

• Preliminary layout

• Opinion of cost

• Technical Memo

3. Permit Level Design

• 3 projects

• Level of detail to support local/state permitting

North Branch Park River

Design Goals – Improve Water Quality

• Recreation, Habitat for Fish, Other Aquatic Life and Wildlife

• Elevated Fecal Indicator

Bacteria

− Stormwater runoff

− Combined Sewer overflows

• Channelization, erosion & sediment deposition

North Branch Park River Design Goals – Restore and Protect Riparian Corridor

• Broad variability in stream conditions

• Healthy riparian corridor improves in-stream conditions (Goodwins Wild)

North Branch Park River

Design Goals – Flood & Community Resilience

Vision for the North Branch Park River

Healthy Urban/Suburban Riparian Corridor

• Landscape scale green infrastructure that improves water quality

• Scenic riparian landscape offering healthy neighborhood amenities

• Increased ecosystem connectivity benefiting migratory and recreational paths

• Shared regional natural resource, a focus of urban/suburban collaboration

floodplain parkland vs parking lots

Design Strategies

Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI)

• Public/institutional properties

• Within municipal right-of-way

• At existing outfalls

• Site, neighborhood, landscape scale

Infiltration basins

Bioretention systems

Bioretention Planters

Parking Lot Bioretention

Bioretention & Walking Trails Rain Gardens

Roadside Bioswales Green Streets

Other Designed & Natural Green Infrastructure Design Strategies

• Riparian & floodplain restoration

• Urban tree canopy

• Urban rewilding

• Land conservation

Urban Tree Canopy

Small Urban Forests & Urban Rewilding

Riparian & Floodplain Restoration

Floodplain Park

Land Conservation – Goodwin’s Wild

Muddy River Restoration

• Targeted dredging of choke points (flooding)

• Bank stabilization and plantings

• Habitat improvements

• Historic landscape restoration

• Stream daylighting

• Stormwater improvements & GSI

• Tree stewardship

Design Concept Development

Green Infrastructure Screening

• Public & institutional properties, 98 potential parcels identified

• Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI)

− 0.5 acre or more of impervious area

− All soil types considered

• Riparian Corridor Green Infrastructure

− Parcels within 300-foot riparian corridor

Design Concept Development

Green Infrastructure Field Work

• Field inventories completed in December 2023

Design Concept Development

Floodplain and Riparian Corridor

PARKING IN WOODED FLOODPLAIN AND RIPARIAN AREA WOODED FLOODPLAIN AND RIPARIAN AREA

FEMA 100-YEAR

PARKING LOTS IN FLOODPLAIN

PARKING LOTS IN FLOODPLAIN

FLOODPLAIN

FEMA 500-YEAR

FLOODPLAIN

Design Concept Development

Floodplain and Riparian Corridor

PARKING IN WOODED FLOODPLAIN

PARKING LOTS IN FLOODPLAIN

PARKING LOTS IN FLOODPLAIN

AND RIPARIAN AREA WOODED FLOODPLAIN AND RIPARIAN AREA

STEEP WOODED SLOPES

Design Concept Development

Floodplain and Riparian Corridor

• Riparian & Floodplain Restoration

− Flood prone parking lots and development

− Wetland/meadow creation

• Land Conservation

− Riparian corridor, floodplain & wooded steep slopes

− Formal permanent protection

• Challenges

− Loss of parking, future development

− Need property owner cooperation

− Incentives to reduce impervious cover

LAND CONSERVATION OF FLOODPLAIN, RIPARIAN CORRIDOR, AND WOODED STEEP SLOPES

FLOODPLAIN

RIARIAN/FLOODPLAIN

RESTORATION OF EXISTING PARKING LOTS

Design Concept Development

Impervious Surfaces & Polluted Runoff

• Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI)

− Retrofit parking lots, roads (green streets), schoolyards

− Treat new separated storm drain discharges

− Subsurface stormwater storage and infiltration systems

• Challenges

− Property owner cooperation

− Combined sewers

− Subsurface and soil conditions

− Incentives to reduce impervious cover

Design Concept Development

Improved Ecological and Recreational Connectivity

• Paths and Trails

− Walking paths within restored riparian/floodplain areas

− Connections to schools, institutions, and landscapes

− Connections to future Hartline Multi-Use Trail

• River & Stream Crossings

− Potential replacement

− Flooding, erosion, water quality, recreational and wildlife passage

EVALUATE

RIVER CROSSING FOR REPLACEMENT

WALKING PATHS IN RESTORATION AREAS

TRAIL CONNECTIONS

FOCUS AREA CONCEPTS

ASYLUM AVENUE TO FARMINGTON AVENUE

SUBSURFACE STORMWATER STORAGE

GREEN STORMWATER INFRASTRUCTURE (TYP)

GREEN STREETS WITH SHADE TREES AND GSI (TYP)

WALKING TRAILS / LOOP

FLOODPLAIN RESTORATION WITHIN EXISTING PARKING LOTS

LAND CONSERVATION

POLLINATOR GARDEN

CSO N-10

CSO N-9

FOCUS AREA CONCEPTS

CRONIN PARK AND BLUE HILLS

NEIGHBORHOOD

LAND CONSERVATION – RIPARIAN AREA OF TRIBUTARY TO NORTH BRANCH PARK RIVER

SUBSURFACE STORAGE SYSTEM BENEATH

ATHLETIC FIELDS TO MANAGE STORMWATER FROM FUTURE SEPARATE STORM DRAINAGE SYSTEM

GSI WITHIN PARKING LOT ISLANDS AND EDGES (TYP)

GREEN STREETS IN FUTURE SEWER SEPARATION AREA (TYP)

GSI WITHIN PARKING LOTS (TYP)

GSI AT EXISTING STORM DRAIN OUTFALLS (TYP)

FOCUS AREA CONCEPTS

NORTH OF ALBANY AVENUE & MARK TWAIN DRIVE

GREEN STREET ALONG MARK TWAIN DRIVE

ONGOING PHASED REDEVELOPMENT WITH LID/GSI

EVALUATE EXISTING RIVER CROSSING (TYP)

WALKING TRAIL

FUTURE HARTLINE MULTI-USE TRAIL

FLOODPLAIN RESTORATION OF UHART PARKING LOT

LAND CONSERVATION

GSI WITHIN UHART PARKING LOTS (TYP) CSO N-2

CSO N-4

GSI WITHIN UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL PARKING LOT

GSI TO TREAT FUTURE SEPARATE STORM DRAIN OUTFALL

GSI TO TREAT FUTURE SEPARATE STORM DRAIN OUTFALL FLOODPLAIN RESTORATION

FOCUS AREA CONCEPTS

HOMESTEAD AVENUE & GOODWIN’S WILD

PROPOSED SIDE PATH

EVERSOURCE ELECTRICAL SUBSTATION

GOODWIN’S WILD (OLD GROWTH FOREST)

FLOODPLAIN RESTORATION WITH FUTURE SITE REDEVELOPMENT

GREEN

GREEN STORMWATER INFRASTRUCTURE WITH BROWNFIELD REDEVELOPMENT

LAND CONSERVATION

FUTURE HARTLINE MULTIUSE TRAIL

FLOODPLAIN RESTORATION

STREETS IN FUTURE SEWER SEPARATION AREA

GREEN STREET SCARBOROUGH STREET

Consultant Team Update

Task 3 –

Design Development (Remaining Work)

• Distribute proposed GI concepts/strategies for review and comment

− Project Partners

− Advisory Committee Members

− Private/Institutional Property Owners

• Select 5 concepts for preliminary design

− With input from upcoming Town Hall style meeting

• Prepare preliminary designs

• Select 3 projects for permit level design

− Need support of property owners

Project Partner Updates

• MDC

− North Branch Park River Drainage Study & Sewer Separation Design (Granby Street and Blue Hills)

− New North Branch Interceptor Replacement along lower NBPR (2027 start at the earliest)

• City of Hartford

− Granby Street Green Infrastructure Demonstration Project (with EPA)

• CRCOG

− Stormwater Authority Feasibility Assessment (CT DEEP Grant)

− Natural Hazard Mitigation & Climate Adaptation Plan

− Climate Pollution Reduction Plan

• CTDEEP

−

Creating new Office of Planning & Resilience (October 2024)

Consultant Team Update

Task 5 – Public Outreach & Community Engagement

• Bioblitz - Kirsten Martin, USJ Professor of Environmental Science

− Friday, April 26 & Saturday, April 27

− Volunteers

• Town Hall Style Meeting

− Green infrastructure concepts

− Watershed plan goals

− Late May or early June

− Property owners

− Evolution of Park Watershed / Non-Profit Stewardship

• Community/EJ Outreach Meetings and Walkshops

Consultant Team Update

Task 5 – Public Outreach & Community Engagement

• 2010 Plan Goals and Park Watershed Assessment Survey has been developed and distributed

− Need input from Advisory Committee

− Share with others

− Survey Link: https://forms.gle/f27qzM5q9UnWW8YN9

• Survey responses to date

• Two other specialized surveys will be developed

• Planned outreach to institutional property owners on GI concepts

Next Steps

• Green Infrastructure Design Development

− Distribute GI concepts to Project Partners and Advisory Committee and receive feedback

− Property owner outreach

− Select five (5) concepts for preliminary design based on:

• Benefits to water quality

• Demonstration value & scalability

• Other co-benefits (resilience, habitat, community amenity, etc.)

• Property owner support

− Begin preliminary designs

• Stakeholder Engagement

− Property owners walkshop (April)

− BioBlitz (April)

− Town Hall style meeting with Project Partners, Advisory Committee, and the public (April/May)

Project Schedule

Discussion North Central Conservation District

Questions

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Contacts:

Joanna Shapiro

jshapiro@conservect.org

Erik Mas emas@fando.com

Mary Rickel Pelletier maryp@parkwatershed.org

Brian Martin

Cally Guasti-O’Donoghue

Brian.Martin@tpl.org

cally.guasti@tpl.org